September 19, 2014
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CONGRESS
AND THE BUDGET
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republican senate takeover not a
sure thing
 Veteran political handicapper
Charlie Cook writes
that a GOP gain of six seats -- the minimum needed to control
the chamber -- "remains pretty likely." But Democrats are "holding
their own or even improving their odds" in purple states -- those that
either President Obama or Mitt Romney won by narrow margins.
Statistical modelers give Republicans slimmer odds than a few weeks
ago. Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight
now gives the GOP a 56.9 percent chance of a Senate takeover, down from
a 64 percent chance on Sept. 3. The New York Times's Upshot gives
Republicans a 59 percent chance, down from 67 percent in late August.
Republican control of both the House and Senate means continued
gridlock -- Obama can veto legislation -- but would give the GOP more
sway over the budget and appropriations, plus oversight authority. Five
key races.
OPENING FOR VETERANS IN
MANUFACTURING: ASEE's
veterans-to-engineering effort might "fit very well" with the
Michigan-based American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation
Institute (ALMMII), a pilot project launched under the Obama
administration's advanced-manufacturing initiative. So reports
Bill Kelly, ASEE's external affairs director, based on conversations
last week on Capitol Hill with ALMMII Executive Director Lawrence E.
Brown and Chief Technical Officer Alan Taub. More opportunities for
veterans, as well as for persons with disabilities, are likely if the Revitalize
American Manufacturing and Innovation Act
(RAMI) becomes law. At the urging of Reps. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.),
right, and Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), the House-passed version of the bill
requires that proposals for the envisioned network of
industry-university institutes show how each new center "will encourage
the education and training of veterans and indivisuals with
disabilities." For more on ASEE's work involving veterans, see A Push for
Greater Access.
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DATA
POINTS
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ACADEMIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING R&d in relation to
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (2003-2012)
Source: National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NSF)
ACADEMIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ARTICLE OUTPUT PER $1
MILLION OF S&E R&D
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THE ADMINISTRATION AND RESEARCH AGENCIES
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RED ALERT FOR DEANS: The
National Science Foundation's Engineering Directoriate encourages deans to make
department chairs aware of its multi-year initiative, Professional
Formation of Engineers,
intended to "create and support an innovative and inclusive engineering
profession for the 21st century." The initiative "includes all
processes and value systems that shape how people become engineers."
The first phase in 2015 is a pilot Revolutionizing Engineering
Departments (RED), launched in partnership with the Directorates for
Computer and Information Science and Engineering and Education and
Human Resources. The funding opportunity "enables engineering
departments to lead the nation by successfully achieving significant
sustainable changes in their undergraduate programs and to educate
inclusive communities of engineering students prepared to solve 21st
century challenges." The directorate hopes to see "creative ideas and
ambitious proposals."
 NEW LEADER FOR CISE: The
new head of NSF's Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Directorate (CISE) is James Kurose, Distinguished Professor in the
School of Computer Science and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Kurose has served in a number of administrative roles, including as
chair of the Department of Computer Science, and interim dean and
executive associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences. He
co-authored the textbook "Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach." Read more.
PLEASE COMMENT: NSF is exploring establishment of a national
network of Big
Data Regional Innovation Hubs
and seeks input from "across academia, state and local government,
industry, and nonprofits." Responses should be no more than two
pages and are due Nov. 1. The hubs would "stimulate, track, and
help sustain new regional and grassroots partnerships around Big Data."
PENTAGON AND ENERGY: The two departments are teaming up to host a
workshop Oct. 8 and 9 in
Fort Worth, Tex. on advanced manufacturing. Among topics: The recent
request for information from DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office on
clean energy and Pentagon plans for an innovation institute as part of
its Manufacturing Technology Program (ManTech). Find
out more.
FUEL FROM GARBAGE: Another
planned workshop, this one in Arlington, Va. Nov. 5, will gather
experts to identify technical barriers to large-scale commercial
development of liquid transportation fuels from waste feedstocks. Learn
more and register.
UNDER-USED ASSETS: The
federal national security establishment has a range of lab facilities
and infrastructure, ranging from conventional labs, sled tracks, and
wind tunnels to "large, highly sophisticated instrumented open-air
firing ranges" supporting weapon system R&D. A White House report
says: "These unique resources can be better leveraged across the
academic and private sectors" to advance "current and emerging national
and homeland security mission needs." The report
lays out six goals.
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES
 what to stress in ethics teaching: Deans
are asked to share the following with appropriate faculty: "The
National Academy of Engineering's online ethics center website, which
serves as a resource for educators, practitioners, and students seeking
to understand and address ethically significant problems that arise in
their work, its enhancing its collection of materials and expanding its
focus on engineering and research ethics to including ethics education
materials for life and environmental sciences; computer, math, and
physical sciences; and social and behavioral sciences. A primary
audience for the website are instructors and faculty who teach ethics
topics as part of their classes or as an entire class, as well as those
who have taught such topics or might do so. The center is requesting
feedback from instructors and faculty through a questionnaire on what
faculty and instructors think are most important for supporting the
teach of ethics to students in science and engineering. The survey should take about 10 minutes and will be collected through October 6, 2014
FRONTIERS OF ENGINEERING
EDUCATION: The next symposium
will be October 26-29 in Irvine, Calif. See a list
of early-career faculty chosen to participate.
AWARDS TO BROWN, HECKER:
Boston
University President Robert Brown, "regarded as a pioneer in the field
of chemical engineering and engineering education," has won NAE's Simon
Ramo Founders Award "for contributions to understanding of fiscoelastic
liquids and crystal growth, commitment to diversity in engineering, and
leadership in transforming disciplines and institutions." Siegried
Hecker, research professor at Stanford's Department of Management
Science and Engineering and a senior fellow of the Spogli Institute for
International Studies, has won the Arthur M. Bueche Award "for
contributions to nuclear science and engineering and for service to the
nation through nuclear diplomacy." See the announcement.
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PUBLIC
POLICY AND HIGHER
ED
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INTEREST NOT MATCHED BY COMPLETION: Citing
an intersectional
study,
the American Psychological Association reports that "black women are
more likely than white women to express interest in majoring in
science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields when they
enter college, but they are actually less likely to earn degrees in
these fields." The results suggest, the study says, that "African
American women may face unique barriers to completion of a STEM degree
. . . . One possibility is that, relative to European American women,
African American women have a high initial interest in STEM, but face
unique barriers to completion of STEM degrees, such as negative
race-based stereotypes."
OIL GIANT PROMOTES ENGINEERING: Be
An Engineer "is the first in a series of efforts, supported by
ExxonMobil, to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM."
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ASEE
& COMMUNITY NEWS
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VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
Leaders at NSF and the Navy Discuss the Future of
Engineering
Watch interviews with NSF Assistant Director for
Engineering Pramod Khargonekar, left, who talks
about exciting
NSF projects and opportunities for ASEE members, and Rear Admiral David Johnson, who discusses
the
importance of technology to the U.S. Navy and where naval research is
headed. The videos are part of
ASEE’s Advanced
Research Monitor Interview Series.
NCEES
SEEKS LICENSED CIVIL ENGINEERS to
participate in a standard-setting study for the Principles and Practice
of Engineering (PE) Civil exam May 15-16, 2015, in Clemson, S.C. Travel
and lodging will be paid by NCEES. If interested, complete an online questionnaire.
DEADLINE is sept. 18 FOR HOTEL
RESERVATIONS. . . for
the Oct. 10 Engineering Technology Leadership Institute in Crystal
City, across the Potomac from Washington DC.
This
year's ETLI theme is Engineering Technology: Pathways, Perspectives,
and Roles. Find
out more.
PATHWAYS TO INNOVATION: Engineering deans
are invited to join the Pathways to Innovation program, run by the
Epicenter at Stanford. It's designed "to
help
institutions transform the experience of their undergraduate
engineering
students and fully incorporate innovation and entrepreneurship into a
range of
courses as well as strengthen co- and extra-curricular offerings."
Teams receive "access to models for
integrating entrepreneurship into engineering curriculum, custom
online
resources, guidance from a community of engineering
and entrepreneurship
faculty, and membership in a national network of schools with similar
goals. See the call
for proposals. For more information, contact Liz Nilsen at lnilsen@nciia.org
THE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL HISPANIC
ENGINEERS (shpe) Deans’ Summit will take
place in Detroit, Michigan on Friday morning, November 7 as a part of
the
annual SHPE National Conference. The Summit will focus on the
challenge
of building a diverse pipeline of engineering students.
Leaders
from SHPE, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE),
and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) will present their
current efforts
and needs for support in this area. The goal is to develop
recommendations and
actions to strengthen the ties between these organizations, academia
and
industry. Please RSVP via http://tinyurl.com/2014SHPE no
later than October 1,
2014.
ENGINEERING EDUCATION FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The
Seventh International Conference
on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development
(EESD15) "will
explore current and future ways of thinking in the emerging field" and
the groundbreaking worth since 2002. It will be held June 9-12, 2015 at
the University of British
Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey campus. 7 of EESD and
will celebrate the ground-breaking work accomplishing in EESD since
2002.
The conference will be held from June 9-12, 2015 at the University of
British
Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey campus in Vancouver. See the conference
themes. Abstracts are due October
13.
start preparing abstracts: The
abstract submission phase opened Sept. 2, 2014 for the 2015 ASEE
Annual Conference and Exposition in Seattle. The Calls for Papers from
various divisions can be found here.
 TAKING THE LEAD: The
Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is hosting a workshop entitled
Academic Leadership for Women in Engineering at the WE14+ICWES16 Annual
Conference in Los Angeles on Oct. 24 and 25. There will be a specific
focus on best practices central to leadership in academia. Click here to learn
more and apply to attend the workshop.
Please complete the participant application by August 25. Funded
through support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the workshop is free to
all who are accepted. Contact learning@swe.org with any questions.
ON-LINE STEM
SUSTAINABILITY LIBRARY: This on-line library of
over 1700 juried articles and 300 videos was developed at James Madison
University with NSF funding. The site provides resources for those
researching or teaching sustainability across contexts.
ANNUAL
CONFERENCE - STORIFY VERSION: ASEE's
Engineering Libraries Division has put together a lively collection of
photos and tweets that captures the collaboration and camaraderie
of the Indy conference. Check it out here.
DEANS' FORUM ON
HISPANIC HIGHER EDUCATION
The
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) invites
engineering deans and chairs to the Third Annual Deans’ Forum on
Hispanic
Higher Education: Advancing Graduate School Opportunities and Success
for
Hispanic Students, following HACU’s 28th Annual Conference, Tuesday,
Oct. 7,
2014, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The forum will address issues facing
Hispanic
students in graduate education and highlight promising practices to
enhance
access and success. For more information, see http://www.hacu.net/hacu/Deans_Forum.asp.
‘PROFILES’
IS OUT: ASEE's
eagerly awaited 540-page Profiles of
Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges has been
published. Call ASEE (202-331-3500) to order a copy.
ASEE DIVERSITY
COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER: The
spring edition of the semi-annual newsletter is now
available. ASEE Past President J.P. Mohsen discusses a proposed
Year of
Dialogue on Diversity and details on safe zone ally training at the
annual
conference are posted, among other items.
VIDEOS
OF
THE PPC: View sessions from February's Public
Policy Colloquium of the Engineering Deans Council dealing with
advanced manufacturing, federal R&D, and K-12 engineering.
STAY
UP TO DATE
on ASEE's Retention Project by
clicking here
for updates.
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EDITOR: Mark Matthews;
CONTRIBUTOR:
William E. Kelly; NEW MASTHEAD DESIGN by Francis Igot,
incorporating the new ASEE logo.
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